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SYRIA ACTION COULD DELAY SHAHEEN-PORTMAN: The Shaheen-Portman energy efficiency bill, which is scheduled for floor time in the Senate next Tuesday, Sept. 10, after lawmakers return, could see its prime consideration slot pushed back by Syria action. This weekend’s request from President Barack Obama that Congress authorize military action in that nation — along with closed-door, members-only briefings, debate about exactly what authority (if any) Congress may grant, and the Labor Day holiday — threw many Hill offices into chaos this weekend, and it’s not yet clear where things will land. One guarantee: Any Syria bill is going to take several days at least once it reaches the floor, and if that happens before Shaheen-Portman gets there, the Senate’s first major energy bill to hit the floor since 2007 could find itself moved to the backburner.

REFRESHER: The U.S. historically gets little oil from Syria — in fact, it hasn’t imported any oil from the country since September 2011, around the time the U.S. and the European Union imposed sanctions on the country’s oil. In that month, the U.S. got 641,000 barrels of oil from Syria, just 0.19 percent of the 338 million barrels imported that month, according to Energy Information Administration data. Until unrest began in 2011, according to EIA, about 99 percent of Syria’s oil exports went to Europe and Turkey. Since then, Syrian oil production has dropped off significantly — down 60 percent between March 2011 and October 2012, according to EIA. Syria also has significant natural gas resources, but exploration of that fuel has also dropped off amid the fighting. Read more from the EIA: http://1.usa.gov/n9D9Q7

HAPPY SEPTEMBER and welcome to Morning Energy, where your morning host is getting back into the groove after spending all last week trying to figure out what most people do at night. Send your energy news to aguillen@politico.com, and follow on Twitter @alexcguillen, @Morning_Energy and @POLITICOPro.

IT’S MURRAY V. McCLENDON ON NAMING RIGHTS: Two of the biggest names in coal and natural gas are taking swings at each other in court over the names of their companies. Aubrey McClendon, the founder and former CEO of Chesapeake Energy who left that company last year, has started a new shale gas firm called American Energy Partners. But coal baron Robert Murray isn’t happy — because his Murray Energy owns a 20-year-old coal subsidiary called American Energy Corp. In an Aug. 23 letter to McClendon, Murray writes that the similar names cause confusion in the marketplace — a particularly bad thing, he argues, since coal and gas are direct competitors in electricity generation.

Details: In a complaint filed in Ohio's Belmont County Court of Common Pleas, AEC argues that AEP and McClendon are violating several Ohio laws. Murray’s lawsuit also says McClendon has "contributed substantial sums to the Sierra Club for its 'Beyond Coal' campaign" — referring to the February 2012 revelation that Sierra got $26 million from natural gas interests, much of it through McClendon. Naming his new firm American Energy Partners “is another attempt to compete with, disparage, and harm the business of coal producers, particularly American Energy Corporation,” the suit states: http://politico.pro/15A1nEX

Why wait? Citing the threat of a lawsuit, AEP quickly filed its own suit in a U.S. district court in Oklahoma. AEP says AEC is far from the only company to use the phrase "American Energy" in its name, and cites eight different entities in Ohio alone that use that phrase in their name. AEP asks the court to rule that its name doesn't violate federal or state laws dealing with unfair competition and trademark violation. McClendon’s lawsuit, with AEC’s Aug. 23 letter attached: http://politico.pro/17wzCjz

ALSO IN COURT NEWS — MANN DEFAMATION CASE CONTINUES: A D.C. Superior Court judge on Friday shot down a request by National Review Online to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought against it by climate scientist Michael Mann, letting the case move forward. Mann sued NRO and the Competitive Enterprise Institute after a 2012 CEI blog post (also picked up by NRO) called Mann the "Jerry Sandusky of climate science" and accused Mann of fraud. Judge Natalia Combs Greene also indicated it’s looking more and more likely there is “sufficient evidence in the record to demonstrate that [Mann] is likely to succeed on the merits.” The judge called the NRO's words "something more than mere rhetorical hyperbole" and said the group's continued questioning of Mann's work, which has been found sound by several investigations, "could be likened to a witch hunt." She added that using Mann’s name in the same sentence as Sandusky’s “is clearly outrageous.” The Friday order, via Climate Science Watch: http://bit.ly/17sKaE0

COURT’S YUCCA RULING IN EFFECT: A court order directing the NRC to resurrect its review of the Yucca Mountain project goes into effect today. The agency leadership hadn’t yet voted on whether to challenge the appeals court decision and still has a few weeks to mull it over. But on Friday, the agency announced that it was seeking comments from participants in the original review process to offer opinions on how to restart the licensing. The agency has about $11 million left to spend on the review, and Yucca Mountain defenders have been urging the NRC to making the release of previously-withheld safety evaluation reports the No. 1 priority.

SEQUESTER FORCES DOE IG TO CUT TRAINING, TRAVEL: The Energy Department’s inspector general has cancelled staff training conferences for its inspectors, trimmed investigation-related travel, and delayed equipment purchases as a result of the sequester’s across-the-board cuts, according to an April letter obtained by POLITICO through FOIA. The IG’s office found itself $2 million poorer after it lost five percent of its budget earlier this year. But the fiscal sacrifices, the IG said in the letter originally addressed to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, allowed them to avoid furloughs. Cuts to travel “have a direct impact on our ability to conduct necessary audits, inspections and investigations” because many of DOE’s facilities are fairly remote. The letter: http://politico.pro/1dKurDN

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DUKE ENERGY TO SHUTTER FIVE COAL PLANTS: Via AP: “Duke Energy has agreed to quit burning coal at its share of a power plant in western Indiana by June 2018 under a settlement announced Friday with environmental and citizens groups that also calls for the company to increase its investments in renewable energy. … The settlement ends the activist groups’ challenge of Duke Energy’s state air permit for its new $3.5 billion, coal-gasification plant that went online this summer. That southwestern Indiana plant was the subject of an ethical flap after Duke officials and regulators were found to be discussing the project’s rising costs.” AP: http://on.jconline.com/1e88U5y

KERRY TALKS CLIMATE TO PACIFIC ISLANDERS: Secretary of State John Kerry may have his hands full in Washington, but he took time yesterday to call climate change science “irrefutable and it is alarming” in a video address to the Pacific Islands Forum in the Marshall Islands (Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is in attendance). Kerry’s remarks came before a receptive audience — small, often poor island nations facing rising seas. “If we act together, there is still time to prevent some of the worst impacts of climate change,” he said. “But the people of the Pacific Islands know as well as anyone that we also need to prepare communities for the impacts that are already being felt.” More from AFP: http://bit.ly/18lMWan

SOLAR PANELS POSE THREAT FOR FIREFIGHTERS, OFFICIALS SAY: Firefighting efforts were hampered Sunday at a warehouse in New Jersey that is home to a 7,000-panel rooftop solar array. NBC10 Philadelphia has more: “Fighting the fire under bright blue skies Sunday, Delanco Fire Chief Ron Holt was forced to keep firefighters from attacking the blaze from the roof because of electrocution concerns. … Ken Willette from the National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit that develops standards for firefighting, says electrocution is one of the hazards firefighters are increasingly facing fighting blazes at structures where solar panels are deployed.” More: http://bit.ly/1e8cKvw

LOBBYING NEWS

Refining: PBF Holding Company LLC, an indirect subsidiary of independent refiner PBF Energy, has registered itself as a lobbying entity. The firm lists as its issues of interest regulations affecting refiners, particularly the Renewable Fuel Standard.

Efficiency: The New York-based refrigeration firm Hudson Technologies has picked up Heather Podesta + Partners to lobby on energy efficiency and reclamation issues. Besides Podesta herself, also on the account are Benjamin Klein, a former legislative director to Byron Dorgan. Hudson also contracts Alcalde & Fay to lobby on refrigerant issues in the Clean Air Act.

Environmental justice: West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc., a self-described Environmental justice advocacy group, has registered itself as a lobbyist. The group lists among its issues climate change, transportation, the Clean Air Act and TSCA reform.

CHRISTMAS IS STARTING EARLIER AND EARLIER EVERY YEAR: Sen. Ed Markey may still be picking out drapes for his new office, but that doesn’t mean he’s taking time off from fundraising. The Massachusetts Democrat — who is up for reelection to a full six-year term next year — sent an email to supporters Friday warning that “special interest groups backed by Karl Rove and the Koch brothers are already running attacks against Democrats across the country” and asking for contributions. The email: http://politico.pro/17opmvu

QUICK HITS

— Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his government will spend whatever it takes to contain leaking radioactive water from Fukushima. Bloomberg: http://bloom.bg/1fuYP0v

— A Louisiana flood protection panel composed of engineers and scientists is taking fire for suing oil and gas companies over what it says is a failure to fix decades worth of damage to wetlands. New York Times: http://nyti.ms/12ZAIEx

— Bloomberg looks at welding flaws in older pipelines as the government considers requiring upgrades: http://bloom.bg/1dBm6Bn

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